16 A Final Word on Our Future
Despite the many issues facing implementation of Indigenous centered-curriculum, progress is being made. Legislation is being drafted, teachers are finding new resources, and students are becoming more eager to learn about these subjects. Indigenous peoples will continue to demonstrate their resilience and will resist colonial mindsets, assuring that as time progresses more and more youth will learn their true histories, not only the ones which serve colonial interests. A day will come when youth learn not that Indigenous peoples disappeared after 1900, not that these issues were resolved after the deaths of a “few bad men,” and not that the relations between the United States and Indigenous governments have always been positive.
Eventually, Monday will come, and teachers will find a way to fit that new unit in. Eventually, the resources will be allocated to educating them on these subjects so they may pass this knowledge along to their students. Eventually, the unique political realities of Indigenous peoples will be recognized and conversations about whether their race makes their stories important to be included in public schools will be made irrelevant. Eventually, this content will be taught not just where Indigenous peoples hold economic power but in every classroom. Eventually, the rights guaranteed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be honored, and graduation rates for Indigenous youth will begin to rise. This will increase the amount of Indigenous educators, which will amplify the rise in Indigenous graduation rates. Eventually, progress will be made for the better—it always is. Studies have shown that our world is steadily improving, contrary to the belief of many.
“We live longer lives, with more mothers surviving pregnancy and more babies living into adulthood. Humanity has access to more food and education, cleaner water and safer sanitation. Homicide rates have fallen from their highs in most places, though that trend has been partly reversed recently. We fight fewer wars and wars that we do fight are shorter and cost fewer lives. The male‐female gap in education and income is rapidly closing. Other positive trends include the rise in global happiness, decline in global income inequality, falling share of the world’s population living in slums, political empowerment of women, rise in IQ scores, decriminalization of same‐sex relationships, continued rise in vaccinations against contagious diseases, falling cancer death rates, decline in the use of capital punishment, falling rates of military spending and conscription (again, partly reversed in recent years), the shrinkage of nuclear arsenals, a decline in working hours that leaves more time for leisure, falling rates of child labor and workplace accidents, increasing access to electricity, and internet‐driven access to information…”
—Tupi 2021
It is easy to focus on the failures of governments, on the shocking lack of attention to this area in public discourse, but it is not always easy to maintain optimism. Though this paper has largely focused on the issues and failures in implementation, it would be much shorter if there were not active efforts to solve these issues being made. Indigenous peoples have faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles since the beginning of the colonial endemic, yet have continued to demonstrate enormous resilience. Though the issues may change, this characteristic will not subside. Indigenous histories and contemporary presence must be valued, and will be heard.